First-Timers Bike Tour Reviews page 36
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★★★★★ Marion Van Kirk
Beautiful Austria and Germany
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
Biking was more difficult than expected. Luckily the women had e-bikes. Most of the hotels were excellent and food was great. Trip started in Neukirchen am Grossvenediger instead of Krimml due to closed hotels. The hotel in vicinity of Burghausen was too far from the town to be able to enjoy the beautiful city and castle and this was a huge disappointment since there were 3 other hotels within the city.
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★★★★★ Bob Sterndale
Beautiful trip but problems
Tauern Bike Path (Krimml-Passau)
The scenery was breathtaking, the bike paths mostly fine but with seriously difficult and dangerous exceptions, the hotels very pleasant and the e-bikes fine with one exception.
The trip started on the wrong foot at the first hotel: Hotel Krimml Fälle. We were assigned a room with no heat (as were others) on a cold day. After two hours of lame diversions and excuses, while we sat in the lobby to keep warm, we were given a heated room. In all other respects the hotel and restaurant were fine.
Getting to Krimml is a bit confusing. OBB will sell you a train ticket (from Salzburg for us) all the way to Krimml. The trip involves a narrow-gauge train from Sell am See to Mittersill hbf (end of line) and a bus trip from Mittersill to Krimml. There is a bus stop in the middle of Krimml village, steps from our hotel.
The first day of biking were delightful. The hotel in Sell am See was beyond our expectations.
The second day of biking started well but we encountered a long section of closed trail. We were in a narrow valley with little development. The only parallel path was a shoulder-less two-lane highway with plenty of high-speed traffic, not an acceptable bike route. Trees and brush had been trimmed along the nice paved bike path recently. All the slash had been left on the path, for 2 or 3 days from its appearance. We picked our way through the mess for maybe a couple kilometers. Then we came to a section with blown down trees obstructing the path, another ½ to 1 Km. Getting through this required some bushwhacking with the heavy e-bikes. Not fun.
Day three of biking was fine until we came to a flooded underpass on the outskirts of Salzburg. We needed to cross the A1 highway to get to Salzburg. A bad storm a few days before had caused numerous problems across Austria. We did find an alternate route but advance knowledge would have saved us a few Km of pedaling.
Day 4, however, brought us to highway biking. As we approached the village of St. Radegund we were directed onto a busy, shoulder-less two-lane road for a steep ascent of a kilometer or more. It was a strenuous ride even with the e-bikes. Your web sites offers this description of the tour:
“The tour route is mainly on dedicated bicycle paths (about 80% of the time). The remainder of the tour is on quiet roads and dirt or gravel roads. This tour is suitable for families with children.”
This stretch alone disqualifies the tour as a family-safe route. The experience continues:
A short distance beyond the scary hill climb is a 5.2 Km stretch of riding on the same road. The tour map shows this section as a bike path on the side of the road pavement. The “bike path” in this area is about 18” wide, separated from the high-speed traffic by a 4” wide white stripe. Narrative direction for this day’s route were not helpful, signage was poor, the “pink” house referred to is now yellow.
The unpleasant day was capped by a steep climb to the hotel in Burghausen. Pushing a heavy e-bike up a hill doesn’t work! You need to pedal it up so that it assists with its own heavy weight.
Day 5 brought us to Bad Fussing. This day was mostly uneventful. Directions to the hotel in Bad Fussing were vague, calling for riding 4 Km on a busy road with no shoulder. Instead, we found a bike path at the German side of the bridge that led right in to downtown Bad Fussing. The directions should include this route. Plan your day to allow an hour or two at one of the baths, you will be glad you did!
Day 6 was uneventful, mainly along the Inn River to Passau.
One e-bike problem: the rear disc brake on one of the 4 bikes was useless, apparently the brake pads were worn away (bikes had coaster brakes too). In all other respects bikes were fine. Battery capacity was generous. I think the lowest reserve at the end of any day for any of us was 50%.
An otherwise delightful trip was marred by surprise bike path closures and stretches of unsafe highway biking. This is not for children. The scenery was awe inspiring. Hotels were good to excellent. E-bikes were good except for one problem that didn’t spoil the trip.
We would have wished for more current information on bike path conditions from the local partner. We provided reports to them of closed paths as we encountered them.
Your tour description misrepresents the conditions of the route. We would not have booked the trip if had been accurately described. SHOW MORE
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★★★★★ Bicycling in Philly
Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 13-19
- How many tours have you completed?
- Greater than 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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★★★★★ Jackie10
Recommend with caution
Salzburg to Vienna, Lakes Option
This bike tour is through the most beautiful Austrian countryside. The accommodations are great, luggage transfers flawless and great breakfasts included. The directions are horrible, especially the 1st and 3 rd days. Make sure you have a GPS with you. The poor directions added unnecessary frustration to the trip. The bikes are up right commuter bikes and uncomfortable for the mileage involved. If you are accustomed to a decent road bike you probably won't be happy. Most cyclists we saw were on e-bikes which makes the poor ergonomics more tolerable. This tour would be a 5 star with accurate directions and decent equipment. So bring a GPS and your own bike and have a blast!
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2019
- How many tours have you completed?
- Two
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria
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★★★★★ Diane Griffin
Disappointing - don't go during shoulder season
Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
I've done four self-guided trips and this trip was my least favorite. The marketing material pitches "storybook villages" but most days are spent riding through corn fields. The hotels were outside of towns and hard to walk to restaurants. Because it was shoulder season, there were very few restaurants open.
First day's hotel was outside of town and front desk advised that we go to the mall for lunch. Fortunately we found a fun restuarant down on the river. The initial meeting with the bike company was disorganized and very brief. He barely talked about the tour, he didn't have tools to swap out pedals, there were too many of us attending the meeting and he said he didn't have time to answer questions - only 60 minutes alotted. We asked for spare tubes for the two road bikes but never got them. Skinny tires get flats!!
The "castle" we stayed in one night was not nice. It was clearly getting renovated - the rooms were nice but there were only five rooms. The property was overgrown and rundown, and with only five rooms it felt very creepy and unoccupied.
Breakfast at the castle - no protein - no eggs, no yogurt. We're on a bike tour and need energy! No fruit, no granola. Breakfast was just six slices of cucumbers, 10 cherry tomatoes, hard rolls, deli meat/cheese. Bar wasn't open for post-ride beer/wine.
Donauhotel Letternof - 11k from Enns, very remote, had to walk to a campground for food. Closest restaurant is cash only, need reservations. Front desk tried to make res but couldn't get through. The ONLY local taxi was working in Linz, not available for us. It was due to rain very hard. Hotel loaned us umbrellas and we went back to the campground for dinner.Day 3 - arrived at Cafe Braun (the meeting point) at 4:30 and called for shuttle (runs 3-6pm) told to go to a camping store(?) and get the bus as they don't have anyone to pick us up. One guy in our party was willing to make the 3k very steep climb to get us a ride. This hotel was nice but since it was past high season everything in this cute village was closed. Only one restaurant was open.
Last day - Vienna - hotel was so far from center city and far from anything interesting. Very long and confusing ride through busy city. Very limited restaurants. Shortest riding day and yet our bags didn't arrive until 5pm.
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★★★★★ Jay Bonitt
Easy But Hard
Danube Bike Path 7 Nights (Classic)
The App for the bike path route was VERY GOOD. However, at the end of each day the app and map took us to the city for that day's destination, NOT to our hotel. The hotel in Aschach was not near where the app ended the day; and the hotel in Enns, while on the bike path, was several miles (and across major highways). If the hotel was on he bike path, why didn't the app take us directly to it? Finally, when entering Vienna the end of the app was no where near the hotel (a 20 minute taxi ride in heavy traffic). This glitch could easily be fixed by the tour operator by guiding riders directly to their hotel each night. As it was, after a good day of cycling, the day often ended in confusion and nowhere near the destination hotel. The bikes (one a road bike the other an e-bike) were excellent. If the app took us directly to our hotel each day instead of guiding us to the center city, I would rate the trip excellent. Unfortunately the hotel destinations were left to us to figure out, and Google maps did not always work.
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★★★★★ Bryan
Austria Bike Trip
Danube Bike Path 8 Nights (Upscale Lodging)
This was the second bike tour that we have completed; and compared to the first tour, this one felt like the local tour operator was more of a logistics company. The route was spectacular, I feel like we could have maximised the experience if we had more information, particularly when it comes to different options along the route. On several occasions we either ran out of time to see things later in the day, or arrived at the hotel around lunch time because we didn't know where we should be budgeting our time. During our Portugal trip, our local contact, Nuno, was incredible, speaking with us several times a day to ensure that we were getting the most out of the experience - this time we were flying blind on our own.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 25 Sept - 5 Oct
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1 other
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Brittany
We really appreciate your detailed review! We'll work with our operator partner on adjusting the daily recommended stops to maximize time for future clients. We hope to help you plan another tour in the future!
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★★★★★ James Hutcherson
Flood of decades
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Can’t change the weather. Boat crew and food was excellent. Everyone tried their best to make the trip as good as they could. Kudos to all involved. Bikes were excellent and well maintained.
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★★★★★ PAULINE MOENCH
TRIP OF DREAMS THAT FELL FAR SHORT
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Not much to say here since our boat never left the dock. Our host, Lesley, was a peach and completely competent. If not for him, we would have left on day two. My biggest disappointment was only having bus tours to Budapest and Bratislava. I would have appreciated a little creativity added in to take us to a couple more places. The tour people were awful with their communication, telling us for three days in a row that we might leave when we knew we were going nowhere. The crew was great, the food was not the greatest, but no complaints. I have a special diet that they were over the top accommodating of. You drastically need to improve your beverage packages—not enough provided for the $$$ we paid up front. 498 euros for the two of us when we wound up spending most of our day off the boat was out of line. If we had been cycling every day, I would not have purchased a package, considering you did not include what are everyday cocktails in the USA, like Manhattans.
For the rooms, rather than having that dopey pull-out at the end of the bed, leave that area under the bed open for luggage storage. Also, get rid of the carpet. Beds were very comfortable. We would have liked to have left our sliding door open a bit. Some kind of stop at the base so they can be open six or eight inches would have been appreciated. I’m sure the daily bike routes would have been great if we had been able to utilize them.
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★★★★★ Mary Schmidt
Unable to review as the Vivienne never left port in Vienna - Please contact me. I would have loved to have been able to review.
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Dear Team at BikeTours.com,
I hope you all are doing well. I am writing regarding my recent river cruise, Danube Delights aboard the Vivienne on September 15, which unfortunately was impacted by flooding, causing the cancellation of several key ports of call and remained docked in Vienna for 7 nights. While I understand that weather conditions are beyond anyone’s control, missing out on many destinations left me disappointed, as I had been looking forward to the full experience. My husband and I had been planning this for over a year and celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary.
Our cruise director did his best to keep the passengers entertained and informed but was getting very mixed messages from someone. It started the first day in Passau with the hired transportation did not have a concrete deportation location. It was 2:30pm before we were even contacted to tell us to go to the bus station and we would be transported to Vienna. After boarding the Vivienne we were told that we would be docked in Vienna for a couple of days and for those interested we could take the bus to Budapest and Bratislava on the next two days. It was a very long bus ride but a nice trip to both.
Starting on Wednesday, day 3, we were then told we MAY leave every evening, so we needed to be back on boat at 5 or maybe a different time and were not able to take any extended excursions due to the possibility of debarking. Thursday we were led to believe we may leave later in the night. Then Friday, we were instructed to be back on the boat at 11:00 am because we might leave. It was determined after we came back that we were not going to be able to leave. We would have loved to have taken the train to visit another location Wednesday - Friday. The last day, Saturday, was the worst, we had to sit on the boat because there would be announcements at 9:00 am, then stay on because we might leave at 11:00am, then wait again until after 1:00pm and then there was a decision to let us off. It was obvious the boat wasn’t going anywhere due to the 24 hours it would have taken to cruise back to Passau and there was another cruise scheduled. Also, we were extremely far back in the line of boats that would have moved before us.
Given these unforeseen circumstances, I am inquiring about a future cruise credit (FCC) toward another cruise or a refund. We were so excited to do our first River cruise as a way to travel and have the ability to bicycle and I would love the opportunity to schedule another boat/bike cruise and fully experience the journey.
I appreciate your understanding and consideration of this request, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Mary Schmidt- What was the date of your tour?
- September 15, 2024
- How many tours have you completed?
- This would have been our first but can't count due to not leaving port.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
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★★★★★ Joann Schmidt
Not what I was expecting
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
Our river/bike cruise turned into a floating hotel in Vienna. Our boat never left the dock all week because of historical flooding on the Danube. The boat and cruise personnel were all fine but just wish we could of actually seen something of the countries we were hoping to see on the river. Not sure if I would ever sign up for one of these again.
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★★★★★ Linda Cooper
Made the most of being stuck at the dock.
Danube Delights: Biking through Four Countries
An act of nature meant that the boat never left the dock. The company made a point to provide activities and bike routes for 7 days in Vienna. Bike Tours was non existent when it came to communicating the changing conditions before the tour started.
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★★★★★ Charles Stahl
A Bit Dissapointing
Provence by Bike and Boat
Compared to the previous five bike/barge trips I have done with company this tour was disappointing. The boat and it's crew were great, the cabins were clean and as comfortable as possible. No problems there. The breakfasts and afternoon snacks were plentiful and good. However, the dinners were often not edible. The Italian cook was very sweet, but the food was often unrecognizable and tasteless. I am not a fussy eater, but I along with my dinner companions often sent the food back uneaten.
The printed material does say that riding is done mostly along country lanes, but the amount of riding on gravel was daunting. I feel that should be mentioned in the literature. The guide was extraordinary, both knowledgeable and well spoken, not to mention very approachable. The highlights were indeed highlights, but negotiating the busy streets while riding through small towns was scary at best. Perhaps doing this trip is mid-summer would be more picturesque, but the weather wouldn't be as perfect as it was for us in late August/early September. Had this been my first bike/barge adventure perhaps I would be less critical, but with many other tours co choose from, I would not recommend this particular tour.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Annik Stahl
Could have been better
Provence by Bike and Boat
The tour leader (Helmut) was great, as was the boat crew. There were some fun times biking but the miles and miles of harsh gravel was not in the description of the trip. (This was not "country roads" -- this was ROCKS and my back ached for days afterward.) Had I know, I would not have chosen this trip as I just had surgery. I found the food to be absolutely awful. The dinners were beond strange and hey, maybe something besides HAM HAM HAM every day for lunch? I lost 4 pounds during that trip.
While I know there are some great trips to be had with this company (my dad has been on several and said this one was the worst). this was not one of them. Like I said, some fun time biking but not enough to recommend this trip.
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Janet Fraser
How a tour guide can ruin what could have been a great experience
Provence by Bike and Boat
While the cycling was good, scenery lovely, other passengers and crew delightful, the irritatingly arrogant sexist and intrusive behaviours by our tour guide (Heim) who claimed to have built the company, put a huge damper on the trip for many of us. Although we enjoyed the bikes, the meal times were chaos due to too many passengers in too small a space. Also the general condition of the boat, Caprice, needs improvement.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug, Sept 2024
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- France
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★★★★★ Jonathan M
Great trails, not well organized
Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
This trip follows well marked German bike trails which are very easy to navigate and quite scenic. The hotels are fabulous. However, we did not have a good experience with the German bike company (Radweg Reisen) that operates the trip on the ground. We were self-guided, and our information package was not available the day we arrived, so we didn't have maps and guiding information in advance. When the packet arrived the next morning, we discovered that it contained very little about sights near the tour route. We were able to Google plenty of side trips but wondered: isn't that the job of the tour company? Also, our bikes were delivered late on the day we were supposed to start, so we lost a morning of biking (and actually the bikes were eventually delivered not by the tour company but by an English family to whom the bikes had been misdelivered). We called Radweg Reisen but their corporate office was located hundreds of km away. We have been on lots of trips with biketours.com and find that the smaller shops are much more attentive and give better service. Radweg Reisen is too big to care about 2 self-guided bikers.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 8/25-8/30
- How many tours have you completed?
- 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Scott Katzer
Enjoyed the trip but some things can be improved
Cycling the Altmühl Valley - Round trip from Regensburg
The sites and surroundings were great and we lucked out with the weather as it rained almost every other day. Although we completed the tour with no issues, it was a bit complicated at times. The information between Bike Tours and the tour company Ragwed wasnt always fluid and simple questions seemed to take a bit of time to answer which is a problem when trying to book flights. The information given with the tour company package was a bit limited. Although maps were included, they are not provided with any sort of turn by turn direction. This isnt a big deal for most days as the trail is obvious but entering a city has its own challenges. It is recommended for anyone going on this tour to have GPS on their phone which we had to use (and incur roaming charges) several times. The signage in some locations simply dont exist and some roads were even closed during our tour due to construction. It would be wise for this tour company to occasionally ride their own route and note any changes.
The hotels were nice for the most part and breakfasts were good. The only one that I felt could be improved was the Regensburg location (IBIS Hotel). While it was nice and fine for the stay, its location is a decent distance from the Old Town (30 minute walk minimum) when there are tons of other places right in the Old Town area to stay. The other locations had hotels right in the middle of the main area (The one in Belingres was real nice). Mileage was fine and a majority was on bike paths/trails. My only request would have been providing the option to use a GPS on this tour as many of the paths either were not labeled or so close to the country roads that its hard to tell them apart. The bikes could be improved a bit as they are a bit bulky and heavy and really could do without the bright red advertising all over it. I will give kudos to the luggage people as we never had to wait for our luggage to arrive and they were usually there by 3pm at the latest.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 6
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Water Bound
Disappointed
Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/1-9/7/18
- How many tours have you completed?
- -1- before this one
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Z1201
The bicycle trip was great the ship
Mosel & Saar by Bike & Boat
- What was the date of your tour?
- 22.6.19
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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★★★★★ Ginny50
Neckar & Rhine Rivers by Bike and Boat
This was an enjoyable bike/boat tour. The crew and staff were very nice. The riding days were usually short and manageable. The rainy weather was an issue which made for slippery riding on cobblestones. Due to the rains the Neckar River was closed and our ship was diverted. The company handled the diversion to the best of their ability and these detoured riding days were okay. We ended up in the town of Speyer, which was our favorite stop of the entire tour. One major complaint was the rooms on the ship were very small. They did state that in the promotional information, but we were not expecting that tiny. Everyone complained about the tiny rooms. We just laughed and dealt with it but it did make for close quarters. If you travel in May bring rain gear!
- What was the date of your tour?
- May/June 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Germany
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